MINNEAPOLIS - Following a 2-0 start to the season, the Capital University football team is ranked No. 25 in the latest D3Football.com Top 25 Poll which was released on Sunday. The Crusaders are one of four Ohio Athletic Conference teams to be nationally ranked.
Capital earned a season-best 62 points in the poll which is voted upon by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country. CU trails #24 Occidental by just one point (1-1, 63 pts) and #23 Redlands by only three points (2-0, 65). No. 22 Trine (2-0) earned 71 points in this week's poll. Also joining the Crusaders in the Top 25 are #1 Mount Union (2-0, 623 pts, 23 first-place votes), #9 Ohio Northern (1-1, 355 pts) and #18 Otterbein (2-0, 177 pts).
CU has now received votes in all four polls this season. Capital picked up 56 points in the preseason poll. The Crusaders then earned 38 points following the first week of the regular season and 43 after the second week.
Capital began its 2009 campaign with a 31-21 road victory over Adrian on Sept. 5. The Crusaders then posted a 46-32 win over Heidelberg in its Ohio Athletic Conference and home opener this past Saturday. CU is averaging 508.5 yards per game of total offense while holding its opposition to 6.0 yards per game rushing. In its last win over the Student Princes, Capital posted a pair of 100 yard rushers to mark the first and second Crusaders to surpass the century mark on the ground since the 2006 NCAA Playoffs (23 games).
The Crusaders return to the road for their next two games. The first test will be a trip to OAC rival Wilmington for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.